More than 100,000 people may have been killed in Sudan in the past year, according to the US Special Envoy to the war-torn country.
At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Sudan yesterday, Special Envoy Tom Perriello acknowledged the lack of an accurate death toll, yet said the existing estimates of 15,000 to 30,000 were way down on the most likely casualty figures. "Possibly to a factor of 10 to 15...some think it's at 150,000,” he said.
Periello revealed the Biden administration is in talks with the United Nations and African Union about the possibility of deploying peacekeepers if the situation continues to deteriorate.
"The absence of reliable death toll figures exposes the severe paucity of resources and attention given to the world’s largest humanitarian and hunger crisis. The international community appears determined to take action only when the crisis reaches cataclysmic proportions," said Shayna Lewis, Sudan Specialist at Avaaz.
The situation in Sudan grows closer to a living hell each day. Avaaz continues to speak with civilians in El Fasher, North Darfur, where the Rapid Support Forces are now present inside the city, driving fears of an all-out assault and high civilian casualties. Their testimony sheds light on already unlivable conditions. Many children were separated from their families when fleeing violence in villages west of El Fasher. Their reunification has been hindered by the communications blackout. The narrow window for preventing mass atrocities is rapidly closing and the UN has warned that 800,000 civilians are in imminent, acute danger due to the escalating violence.
With attention fixed on North Darfur, SAF and allied forces continue to wage a counter-offensive in Gezira State, in the midst of a communications blackout for at least 80 days. The risk of mass atrocities remains high across the vast country, and the true extent of violence against civilians is yet to be seen.
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES
Contact details available on request
The Avaaz team is in contact with human rights defenders, civilians, and Emergency Response Room (ERRs) volunteers across Sudan. Below is a selection of testimonies from the past week from civilians inside of El Fasher. If you would like to be connected with people on the ground, please reach out to our team.
In the following testimonies from people in El Fasher, names have been changed due to safety concerns.
'Naima': “We ask the international community to provide those in need with life-saving aid because people are dying from chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and are in dire need of kidney dialysis. Humanitarian aid has stopped, especially in the past few days because the war intensified. We don’t know what is happening, so we are asking the international community to take a stand and push the warring parties to stop the fight because we are innocent citizens suffering. Bombing is taking many lives, sometimes 10 or 15 people are killed in one place, others are dying from hunger or illness.”
'Adil': “I am a citizen from Abu Shouk refugee camp. After the war started in Sudan, people are having a miserable life, and we, who live in Abu Shouk refugee camp in North Darfur, suffer from a catastrophic situation after the economic blockade that was forced by the Rapid Support Forces on Al Fashir state.”
'Sami': “This war has affected women deeply, especially economy-wise. Before the war, women would work in the markets, public and private sector and other institutions, but for a year now there are no jobs, and even those who work in the public sector don’t receive salaries, so we live an economic hardship, and the health situation is getting worse every day because there is no treatment in El Fasher or in the camps. Roads are closed so there is no way to bring medicines or food supplies like before.
"Women and children are the most affected by this war. Children are suffering from malnutrition and hundreds are dying every day. Pregnant women also suffer because there is no money to take them to the hospital to give birth so either lose their lives or the baby.”
'Jamal': “If the war continues for just 2 more months, all features of life will end in Sudan, Darfur and especially in the camps. The situation is extremely dire and there are people who spend 2 or 3 days without even a piece of bread to eat! Children are hungry in the streets and people who had some supplies used to share what they have with those in the camps but now they are all the same with nothing in hand.”
Contact details available on request
AZZA AHMED is the Women’s Issues Secretary at the Darfur Bar Association (DBA). The DBA documents violations of international law and pursues accountability for these violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. They are currently preparing for a conference in Central Darfur in May on the humanitarian situation. International stakeholders have been invited to attend virtually.
ADAM MOUSA is the Director of Sudan Coalition Defenders and the Founder and Director of Darfur Victims Support (DVS), an organization addressing the needs of victims of human rights abuses in the Darfur region. DVS has human rights monitors across all five states in Darfur and in eastern areas of the country. They also provide psychosocial support to victims and pursue justice and accountability for violations they have suffered.
ADEEB YOUSIF the Former Governor of Central Darfur and the Director of PTP, an NGO working to transform the lives of war-affected communities in Sudan though civic education, human and cultural development projects, and the promotion of all human rights for all Sudanese people. They are currently working with communities in Uganda who have been displaced from Darfur, Blue Nile, and the Nuba Mountains.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is building an earthen wall around El Fasher to create a “kill box” and prevent civilians fleeing the besieged city, satellite imagery suggests.
People caught trying to smuggle food into the besieged city of El Fasher are being “executed on sight” by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to one civilian.
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